
'I bought a beachfront apartment in a holiday hotspot – it is cheaper than renting'
A savvy travel writer has bought a beachfront apartment in a popular vacation spot and claims it is more affordable than renting. Karolina Wachowicz became frustrated with the rising rental costs in her new city, Barcelona, Spain.
However, when the Polish journalist told her friends she planned to buy instead, they laughed, believing the Spanish process would be too overwhelming for her. "If you've ever tried to rent a flat in Barcelona, you know the struggle," Karolina, who originally comes from Kraków, told What's The Jam.
"After a year of paying sky-high rent and handling endless paperwork for agencies, I decided to buy my own place with a terrace.
"It turned out to be far simpler and more transparent than the chaos of renting." To legally rent a property in Spain, tenants are typically required to provide a plethora of documents, including their passport, work contract, and several months' proof of income.
Renters also need a Spanish identification number for foreigners (NIE), and many agencies insist on interviews where potential tenants compete for the property. Karolina said: "The whole process can stretch for months, and fees are hefty.
"Agency commissions often start at between €700 and €800, plus additional deposits, typically two months' rent, and your first rent upfront. At the moment, average rental prices are higher than ever.
"A one-bedroom apartment in central Barcelona can easily cost around €1,500 a month or more, depending on the location and standard. This was what I paid for rent before buying my place.
"But now it's not unusual to see even higher prices." Fed up with the rental rat race, Karolina started exploring the possibility of buying her own apartment.
She said: "Despite all the warnings from friends, the process turned out to be quite straightforward. I found the right property and negotiated with the agency.
"I then signed a preliminary agreement and paid a small deposit. I secured a bank mortgage - they typically ask for a 20% down payment, although some banks offer mortgages for just 10% or even 0%, depending on certain conditions.
"I also had to provide my NIE number and a work contract before finalising the purchase at the notary." In the end, Karolina said her apartment cost just over €180,000 (£156,886).
The travel writer claimed that her biggest upfront costs were the 20% down payment, which she saved in advance, and a 10% property transfer tax. The 35-year-old added: "The paperwork was manageable compared to the endless files demanded for renting, and the entire process was much more efficient.
"I moved in quickly, but the apartment needed a major refresh. I invested most of my remaining savings into a complete bathroom renovation, handled painting and cleaning by myself, and found furniture at flea markets and through local second-hand groups.
"Budgeting was crucial, so I got creative, refurbishing the old terrace benches and installing affordable artificial grass on the terrace. From start to finish, purchasing was less stressful and actually faster than many rental applications.
"Even waiting for mortgage approval took less time than waiting for some agencies to respond. The renovation cost about the same as an expensive holiday, but now I have a place I can proudly call home.
"Not only because I feel good here, but also because of the work I put into it. And my monthly costs are less than half of what I would pay to rent a similar place in today's market."

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The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Millions of Brits could get £1,000s in compensation from six lawsuits – from Mastercard fees to loans, can you claim?
MILLIONS of Brits could get thousands of pounds in compensation after being overcharged on their loans or bills. Several major collective lawsuits have been launched in the past year and consumers may be able to cash in. 1 These legal cases are called class action lawsuits and help to chase compensation for millions of consumers that have been let down by companies. In these cases one person usually takes a company to court on behalf of all consumers. The cases have become popular in the UK after changes introduced in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The act allowed a new 'opt-out' collective action system in the UK, which lets groups of consumers pursue claims against companies for breaches of competition law, including fixing prices or restricting supply. Scott Dixon, who runs The Complaints Resolver, said: 'Many familiar names including easyJet, VW and M&S have been caught up in these class action claims. 'You may only get a few hundred pounds, but it's power in numbers.' It is worth noting that legal cases can take time to go to trial and pay out customers. If you are affected by a class action lawsuit then you do not need to do anything to get compensation if the claim is successful. We have rounded up the cases that are currently ongoing and those that could lead to you getting your money back. Homeowners hit with 'secret' insurance charges Some 20,000 people who own flats in the UK are taking legal action against the companies that own their apartment blocks. Legal letters claim freeholders - the building owners - took commission fees when they arranged the building insurance. The freeholders were allegedly paid the fees by insurance companies in exchange for buying their products. These were then added to the cost of the buildings insurance by the freeholders or their agents, and the total amount was then charged to the flat owners in the form of service charges without their knowledge, the leaseholders claim. The flat owners believe this was secretly added to the service charges they paid. Collective claims for compensation Lawsuits that result in compensation for many people are often referred to as "class actions". In England and Wales a Group Litigation Order (GLO) is often used for this kind of lawsuit. Collective Proceedings Orders (CPOs) are also used for claims of breaching competition law. Collective action has been made easier under the UK's Consumer Rights Act 2015. It means the courts can treat similar claims as one, rather than having hundreds or even thousands of separate individual claims. There are a number of stages to bringing this kind of lawsuit, including the courts needing to give permission. Both sides can also appeal decisions at various stages making it a lengthy process with no guarantee of a payout. Lawyers have urged Brits to join several other collective claims for compensation in recent years. There is no cost to sign up, but the firm will usually take a cut of any payout if the claim is successful to cover legal costs. There's no guarantee of a payout and collective claims of this type have not yet been fully tested in court. Lawyers have suggested that each flat owner could be awarded up to £3,500 in compensation. They have also suggested that up to 900,000 homeowners who own flats in multi-occupancy blocks could be affected. Velitor Law, the firm taking the class action lawsuit, has written to four of the UK's largest freeholders - E&J Estates, Consensus Business Group, Long Harbour and Ground Rents Income Funds - to recoup the fees. It is expected that around two dozen landlords, who control the leaseholds for close to 900,000 homes, may be subject to the Leaseholder Action claim. The claim seeks to recover a minimum of six years' worth of commissions from landlords. However, lawyers have applied to suspend the usual period of limitation, which in certain cases could see the claim stretch back as far as 1997. Liam Spender, the lawyer at Velitor Law, said: 'This first set of landlords are now on notice of this claim and they are now going to have to answer in court.' The firm said a second tranche of legal letters to landlords will be issued before the end of the year. The Sun has contacted all four freeholders involved for comment. They all deny any wrongdoing. Shoppers overcharged by credit card companies Millions of shoppers are due to receive £70 each after a tribunal approved a settlement in a lawsuit against Mastercard. The verdict came after a long-running legal case dating back almost a decade. The action was brought by Walter Merricks, a former financial ombudsman, who argued that shoppers were charged higher prices after fees were wrongly levied on transactions made between 1992 and 2008. You do not need to have owned a Mastercard at any point to be eligible for compensation. Consumers can claim compensation if they lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for at least three months between June 1997 and June 2008. They need to have bought goods or services from UK businesses that accepted Mastercard credit cards. For those who live in Scotland the starting point is May 1992. The settlement is worth £200million and half of this has been ringfenced for consumers, who have until the end of the year to claim. Around 2.5million people are expected to come forward. If this number does make a claim they will each receive £45. But if fewer people apply then the payments will be capped at £70 per person. iPhone users could get share of £3billion lawsuit Consumer group Which? is leading a claim against Apple on behalf of 40million UK customers. The £3billion class action lawsuit claimed the tech giant breached competition law by 'forcing its iCloud services on customers'. It said Apple encouraged users to sign up for an iCloud subscription to store photos, videos and other data, which meant it favoured its own products. Which? argued the company also made it difficult for customers to use other products, which ultimately stifled competition. The consumer group said it is acting on behalf of all UK consumers that used iCloud from October 1, 2015. The first court date in the claim will be heard in the Competition Appeal Tribunal on November 19-21. During the hearing the tribunal will decide whether Which?'s legal claim against Apple is appropriate to go ahead on a 'collective' basis. Energy bill-payers could be due hundreds of pounds A former head of the UK's gas regulator is leading a claim against energy companies on behalf of customers. Clare Spottiswoode has been authorised by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to act as the class representative in the lawsuit, which she hopes will prove that households were overcharged for their energy between 1999 and 2009. The overcharging comes as a result of companies which sold high voltage and underwater electricity cables running a cartel. They were fined for doing this by the European Commission in 2014. Anyone who has paid an energy bill in Britain since 2001 is eligible to be included in the lawsuit. Lawyers hope to recoup hundreds of millions of pounds. Victims of data breaches could get thousands There are several actions against firms that have been negligent by allowing data breaches, which put customer information at risk. Among them is a collective action against Marks & Spencer after its data breach earlier this year. The proceedings are being led by Patrick McGuire, a partner at Thompsons Solicitors, on behalf of Scottish victims of the hack. The hack exposed sensitive customer information and left hundreds of people worried about their online safety. It is unclear how much victims could be entitled to as the case is still in its early stages. Compensation for mis-sold car finance loans Thousands of motorists will get a share of £20billion in compensation for undisclosed broker commission arrangements. The Court of Appeal ruled in October that the firms broke the law by not telling borrowers about the broker commission terms. This is because banks allowed car dealerships and brokers to set their own interest rates on loans. Under these now-banned discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs), dealerships and brokers had a financial incentive to charge higher interest rates, as this would increase their commission. But many customers were not aware of this practice. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that customers will be compensated. Lenders are all now liable to pay out £20billion in compensation. It is not yet clear when customers will begin to receive this compensation, which is likely to be administered through a formal redress scheme. What are class action lawsuits? Lawsuits that result in compensation for many people are often described as 'class action'. In England and Wales, a Group Litigation Order (GLO) is often used for this type of lawsuit. Class action lawsuits have become easier after the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It means that courts can group similar claims together, rather than having to deal with hundreds or even thousands of separate claims. There are several stages to bring this type of lawsuit, including the courts needing to give permission for a GLO. Both sides can appeal a decision at various stages, which can make the process lengthy without a guarantee of a payout. The Mastercard case was the first of these big claims to be launched after the changes were introduced in 2015. It was first launched in 2017 and consumers have not yet received compensation. Lawyers have urged Brits to join several other class action claims for compensation in the past few years. There is no cost to sign up but the firm will usually take a cut of a payout if the claim is successful. This money is used to cover legal costs and it can be as high as 30%. .


The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
July jobs report takeaways: Weakening labor market, recession fears
By late afternoon Aug. 1, Trump announced he ordered the firing of Erika McEntarfer, the U.S. commissioner of Labor Statistics. The president in a social media post accused McEntarfer of manipulating figures for "political purposes," though he did not provide any evidence. In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 607 points and the benchmark S&P 500 index was off 1.5% Over the past three months, the economy has averaged just 35,000 employment gains. Here are a few takeaways: This was no blip The poor showing likely wasn't an outlier that will be followed by a resumption of healthy job gains in the months ahead, economists said. Consumers have reined in their spending somewhat, amid worries about Trump's tariffs pushing up prices, and are pulling back on travel and recreational activities. As more of the import charges hit store shelves, Americans will likely restrain their outlays further, Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote in a note to clients. That should translate into weaker job gains, especially in sectors such as manufacturing, retail, trucking and warehousing, the research firm said. And on July 31, Trump escalated his global trade fight with a sweeping new round of import levies. Meanwhile, executives' confidence in the business outlook has been shaken in recent months by the tariffs - which are squeezing profit margins - and that's expected to spell a more pronounced decline in business investment, Pantheon said. "Sadly, employment appears set for a further summer slowdown as firms, facing renewed cost volatility from escalating trade tensions, remain focused on managing labor costs through reduced hiring, performance-based layoffs, restrained wage growth, and lower entry-level wages," Gregory Daco, chief economist of EY-Parthenon, wrote to clients. Also, after the Supreme Court recently lifted a stay on mass federal layoffs, "the decline in federal employment likely will gather more momentum over the coming months," Pantheon said. The Labor Department has tracked 84,000 federal job losses this year, but the number of buyouts and job cuts announced was much larger. Hiring across the economy hit a 12-month low in June, Labor Department figures show. Will there be a recession in 2025? The dreaded word has slipped back into the conversation after fading the past couple of months as Trump delayed many tariffs and reached deals with several countries. "To me, today's jobs report is what entering a recession looks like," Josh Bivens, chief economist of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement. "Could we pull up? Sure. But if we look back and end up dating an official recession that starts 3-6 months from now, this is what it would look like today - rapid softening/deterioration in the labor market." A recession now appears "very, very likely" unless Trump lowers the tariffs by Labor Day, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. Could a skidding economy and stock market lead Trump to reverse course? A darkening economic outlook and tumbling stock market could well prompt Trump to try to soften the import fees, Zandi said. "He's going to try to pull it back," he said. But if he doesn't act before Labor Day, "It will be too late," Zandi said, adding the duties will start to ripple too dramatically into retail prices and consumer and business sentiment for the effects to be undone. A September fed rate cut likely At a July 30 news conference following the Fed's decision to hold rates steady for a fifth straight meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the labor market as solid and balanced. He also said officials would focus primarily on the unemployment rate as they decide whether to lower rates in September. The jobless rate edged up to 4.2% in July. It's still historically low even as Trump's immigration constraints, particularly deportations, shrank the labor force - the pool of people working or looking for jobs. Still, employer demand for employees has waned. But Morgan Stanley suggested the feeble job gains of the past three months would spur the Fed to act in September despite stable unemployment. "The slower payroll pace keeps downside risks elevated and a September cut on the table," Morgan Stanley said in a research note. Fed fund futures markets are now putting the chances of a September rate decrease at 85%, up from 45% after Powell's July 30 remarks. AI is starting to crimp job gains Professional and business services shed 14,000 jobs in July and payroll gains in the sprawling white-collar sector have been stagnant for more than two years. July's showing included job losses in computer and technical roles. Staffing executives say companies are replacing many entry-level information technology workers with artificial intelligence. "It is happening," Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said on CNBC after the release of the July jobs report. "This is not the main thing driving the labor market... But we're seeing early signs." (This story was updated to add new information)


Scottish Sun
14 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Four cost-free measures to secure your home and stop burglars when you're on holiday
Read on to find out how to track down some cheap drinks this weekend SUN SAVERS Four cost-free measures to secure your home and stop burglars when you're on holiday Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HOLIDAY season can mean rich pickings for thieves, so make sure your home is secure when you go away. These measures cost nothing but should help save you the heavy price of a break-in. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up KEEP SCHTUM: Don't tell the world when you're going away for a few days. You never know who is listening, so avoid broadcasting an upcoming holiday to friends in the pub or telling half the town in the local shop. The same goes for social media. If you can't resist sharing your sunny pictures, make sure your posts aren't public so that they can only be seen by your friends. Better still, hold off posting until you're safely back home. SWAP FAVOURS WITH A FRIEND: Making your home look lived in is an important line of defence against thieves. Ask a friend if they can pop by to pick up your post, park on your drive and close the curtains after dark. If it seems like a big ask, offer to return the favour when they take their own trip. You can also put your lights on a timer switch to make it look like someone is home in the evening. SECURE YOUR STUFF: Don't put valuables on display. Hide tech and other expensive items, or leave them with someone you trust. Place keys out of sight, shut away in a drawer, and clear your hallway of handbags. Lock away ladders and tools so they can't be used to get into your home and bring expensive bikes and outdoor kit inside. Why You Should Blur Your Home on Google Maps – Safety Tips for Homeowners Take photos of jewellery and register your precious items for free at the national property register ( CHECK, MATE: Make sure you have up-to-date building and contents insurance. Read your policy in case you should take specific measures before you go away. And while you are at it, you may as well unplug all unnecessary appliances to save on energy bills and cut the risk of electrical fires. All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability. 6 Want to keep your home safe while away? Don't broadcast to all and sundry that you're enjoying some pool time Credit: Getty Deal of day 6 Kick off the deal hunting with big savings on these Kickers Credit: M&S LOOK after little feet in the sturdy Kickers rip-tape leather shoes, down from £50 to £30 at M&S. SAVE: £20 Cheap treat 6 Track down £3 Aperol Spritzes this weekend with the Greene King app for National Spritz Day Credit: Greene King USE the Greene King app to track down £3 Aperol Spritzes this weekend. They are being served to celebrate National Spritz Day. SAVE: Up to £6 WHAT'S NEW UNTIL August 20 at Lidl, scan the Lidl Plus app at the checkout with any purchase for the chance to play spin the wheel and win a free croissant or cake. Top swap 6 Sweep on Benefit's £27 mascara, left or try Aldi's £5.99 dupe for bold lashes on a budget, right SWEEP Benefit's Bad Gal Bang mascara, left, £27 from through your lashes or open your eyes to Aldi's Lacura Girl Gone Bad mascara, right, £5.99. SAVE: £21.01 Shop & save 6 Drop into Sainsbury's for weekend deals on Laila – 10kg basmati rice now £9.50 with Nectar card Credit: Sainsburys HEAD to Sainsbury's this weekend for savings on 35 Laila products. A 10kg bag of basmati rice is down from £19 to £9.50 with a Nectar card. SAVE: £9.50 LITTLE HELPER FILL the freezer with eight for £10 on family favourites at Iceland and The Food Warehouse, such as Goodfella's pepperoni pizza, £2, and Birds Eye crispy chicken dippers, £2.75. Hot right now GET ready for next school term with three selected stationery products for the price of two at Ryman. PLAY NOW TO WIN £200 6 Join thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle. Every month we're giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers - whether you're saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered. Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket. The more codes you enter, the more tickets you'll earn an